Maeda snares co-angler crown on Havasu - Major League Fishing

Maeda snares co-angler crown on Havasu

Japanese native crushes National Guard Western Division competition to take home Walmart FLW Series trophy
Image for Maeda snares co-angler crown on Havasu
Co-angler Hideki Maeda of Osaka, Japan, shows off his first place trophy after winning the FLW Series tournament title on Lake Havasu. Photo by Gary Mortenson.
March 27, 2009 • Gary Mortenson • Archives

LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – Although Hideki Maeda doesn’t speak English fluently just yet, he clearly has an advanced degree in the art of fishing Lake Havasu. In fact, by the end of Friday’s competition, Maeda – a native of Osaka, Japan – proved to everyone that fishing savvy is not simply isolated to American shores.

When all was said and done, Maeda took home the co-angler title on Lake Havasu with relative ease – recording a three-day catch of 36 pounds, 5 ounces to outdistance his closest competitor by nearly 7 full pounds.

“I had a great, great day and a good time,” said Maeda. “Everything was perfect. I had a good draw all three days. I’m very lucky.”

Although Maeda has been in the running for a tournament title before, he said that his experience on Lake Havasu in Walmart FLW Series competition this week was much different than previous events.

Co-angler Hideki Maeda of Osaka, Japan, used a three-day catch of 36 pounds, 5 ounces to win the FLW Series event on Lake Havasu.“I was leading in a tournament before and was very nervous,” he said. “But today, I was in second place so there wasn’t much pressure. Early in the morning I caught a big fish so that made me more relaxed.”

Maeda said that he used a “finesse-fishing” style to land all five of his keepers in today’s National Guard Western Division finals.

But overall, it was his level of consistency that propelled him to the title. In fact, he finished no worse than fourth place during any day of competition this week and was one of the few co-anglers to record a five-fish limit each of the first three days of competition.

For his efforts, Maeda walked away with the first-place trophy as well as $16,500 in prize money. However, that doesn’t mean he gets to keep his bounty.

“I called my wife, and I told her that if I won money, I’d give everything to her,” said Maeda.

Albury comes up short

After turning in a tremendous performance all week, Lester Albury of San Marcos, Calif., had to settle for second place after stumbling on the final day of competition.

Co-angler Lester Albury of San Marcos, Calif., recorded a total catch of 29 pounds, 8 ounces for a second-place finish at the FLW Series event at Lake Havasu.“It’s all about catching fish, and I should have done way better today,” said Albury, who ultimately recorded a total catch of 29 pounds, 8 ounces. “I tried my best all day, but I only ended up with three fish.”

Albury said the conditions contributed in large part to his day-three troubles.

“The wind was killing me,” he said. “I couldn’t work the baits the way I wanted to. It was definitely a disappointing day.”

Albury said he fished a combination of crankbaits and worms in 15 to 20 feet of water to land the majority of his catch.

However, despite losing out on the tournament title, Albury did win nearly $8,300 in prize money – not bad for only the third FLW Outdoors tournament of his career.

“I did my best today,” said Albury. “Overall I feel pretty happy. Any time you finish in the top 10 you should feel good about it.”

Parsons translates rookie outing into third place

Co-angler Taylor Parsons of Sutter Creek, Calif., shows off his third-place trophy at the FLW Series event at Lake Havasu. Fishing in his very first FLW Series event, Taylor Parsons of Sutter Creek, Calif., showed that you don’t have to have years of tournament experience to succeed in some of the highest levels of competition.

“It’s awesome,” said Parsons, who used a total catch of 28 pounds, 11 ounces to net a third-place finish. “My goal was to make the top 10 this week, and I did that. I also didn’t make any mistakes today, so I’m pretty happy right now. The only thing that hurt me was only having three fish on day one.”

Parsons said that he caught all of his fish this week drop-shotting a Roboworm in anywhere from 6 inches to 10 feet of water, while targeting a mixture of rocks and tules.

In the end, Parsons said he was more than happy with his performance.

“I’m really stoked right now,” said Parsons, who walked away with $6,200 in prize money. “Oh man, this is just awesome.”

Best of the rest

Co-angler Bruce McCune of Anderson, Calif., finished the FLW Series event on Lake Havasu in fourth place after recording a total catch of 27 pounds, 6 ounces. McCune won $4,100 for his efforts.Bruce McCune of Anderson, Calif., finished the day in fourth place after recording a total catch of 27 pounds, 6 ounces. McCune won $4,100 for his efforts.

Meanwhile, Mike Iloski of Escondido, Calif., leapfrogged all the way from 30th place on day two to fifth place overall in the finals with a catch of 25 pounds, 14 ounces. Iloski also won the day’s Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division after netting a 3-pound, 15-ounce bass.

Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finalists at the FLW Series Lake Havasu event:

6th: David Shearrer of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., 25-10

7th: J.R. Wright of Truckee, Calif., 25-8

8th: Debbie Carnahan of Flagstaff, Ariz., 25-1

9th: Taylor Thompson of Half Moon Bay, Calif., 23-4

10th: Scott Burke of Oakdale, Calif., 22-5

FLW Series Western Division co-angler action resumes June 24-17 on the Columbia River in Umatilla, Ore.

Day four of Lake Havasu pro competition continues tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. PDT at Lake Havasu State Park, located at 699 London Bridge Road in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.